Beating death of alleged molester ruled a homicide

No arrests are likely after a father of a 4-year-old girl apparently beat a man to death who was seen allegedly molesting the child in rural Lavaca County Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

The death occurred about 3:45 p.m. at a horse barn along County Road 302 near Shiner, about 127 miles west of Houston, said Lavaca County Sheriff Micah Harmon.

Harmon said the victim, a 47-year-old Gonzales man, died at the scene. His name has not been released because his next of kin has not yet been notified of the death.

The Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the preliminary cause of death was blunt-force trauma to the head and neck, said Alene Lyons, Lavaca County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4. Lyons said the death was ruled a homicide.

Harmon told the Associated Press it appears the father’s story is accurate and he has not been arrested. The case will be presented to a grand jury to determine what, if any, charges will be filed.

Harmon said the father and daughter were at their barn with several other people to groom and care for horses there. The Gonzales man came with some of the other people, but was not well-known, if at all, to the father and child.

The girl’s grandfather told KPRC (Channel 2) that the child and her brother were playing as the grownups worked. He gave her a bucket of feed and said she could go feed the chickens. The Gonzales man pulled the girl into some brush on the property, the grandfather told KPRC. He said another child saw what had happened and ran to tell the girl’s 23-year-old father. He found them in the brush.

Harmon said as the girl’s father was pulling the man away from the child, he hit the man several times in the head.

The girl was taken to DeTar hospital in Victoria to be evaluated and to have tests done to determine if a sexual assault occurred. She was released later and is with her family.

A resident in the area told KPRC that most neighbors consider the father’s actions justified.